Still, it is important to keep in mind that manufacturing activity remains sub-par. According to their press release, August’s PMI is the “third-lowest reading in 35 months.” This includes having employment growth at its slowest pace in a year and a half. Not only were many of the components decelerating from earlier in the year, but some of them were shrinking outright. For instance, new export orders remain virtually unchanged at 48.7 in August, with values under 50 suggesting contracting activity.

This includes even the strongest economies globally. The Flash German Manufacturing PMI is currently 45.1, up slightly from 43.0 last month. The key point is that manufacturing remains very weak, with similar findings in France (46.2) and China (47.8). The coming weeks will bring new data on other countries, as well. For China, the Flash Manufacturing PMI figure was the lowest in nine months, with falling new orders, exports, and employment. Its press release says, “… Chinese producers are still struggling with strong global headwinds.”

Indeed, these figures provide further evidence that the global economy is slowing, and while the U.S. manufacturing sector continues to have modest gains, there are significant headwinds on the horizon. The Institute for Supply Management, which also produces a PMI report, has found that the U.S. manufacturing sector has contracted for two consecutive months, led by declining new sales. As such, we will be closely looking at the latest ISM figures, which will be released on September 4th, to see how the slowing global economy and uncertainty domestically impact U.S. manufacturing activity.c

Chad Moutray is chief economist, National Association of Manufacturers.

Chad Moutray is chief economist for the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), where he serves as the NAM’s economic forecaster and spokesperson on economic issues. He frequently comments on current economic conditions for manufacturers through professional presentations and media interviews. He has appeared on Bloomberg, CNBC, C-SPAN, Fox Business and Fox News, among other news outlets.

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Thank you for the info. Too remain optimistic but we’re well aware that we are not out of the woods yet with regards to manufacturing growth. Many of our domestic manufacturing customers still express their continued concern for the short term future outlook.